Apache Kid #53

The Curse Of The Night-Wind!

Apache Kid is chasing Bulge Lister and his gang across the desert. However, the outlaws get the upper hand by shooting Apache Kid's pony and leaving him to die of thirst in the desert. However, the Apache Kid is not easily defeated and manages to find a watering hole where he spies a black stallion and his mares. When the black stallion is attacked by rattle snakes, the Kid kills them and then treats the horse for poison. The horse decides to let Apache Kid ride him and the hero dubs the new horse Night-Wind.

However, Bulge and his men spot the horses trails and realize that the Apache Kid might be still alive and follows their trail. They find Night-Wind alone and steal the horse. When Apache Kid learns he fears that the outlaws might find his Aloysius Kare clothing and learn his double identity and follows after them.

Meanwhile, Bulge and his men come across a band of Native Americans led by Old Toad who demands that they hand over Night-Wind, who has stolen their mares so that they can kill the horse, which they believe is possessed by a devil. With no choice, Bulge and his men turn the horse over but plot to steal it again so they can sell it for a hefty profit. As Old Toad's medicine man performs a ritual, the Natives are gunned down before Old Toad can kill Night-Wind. When Bulge and his men try to ride off with the horse they find it unwilling to cooperate.

Apache Kid arrives just as Bulge is trying to whip the horse into submission and while Bulge is distracted by the arrival of Apache Kid, Night-Wind tramples him to death. Regaining his horse, Apache Kid finds that Bulge's minions have no desire to fight and they surrender to him.

Recurring Characters

• Apache Kid

• Red Hawk

• Nightwind

The Rails of Death!

Apache Kid is riding Night-Wind along the range when he comes across a renegade Apache tribe led by Red Rain attacking men building a rail line. Apache Kid gets the drop on Red Rain with his bow and arrow and then forces the renegades to flee. Questioning the rail men on how Red Rain and his people got possession of guns, he learns that they were sold to them by Luke Rosby who owns the coach line in the area. Apache Kid decides to pay Rosby a visit and stop his operation. To do this, Apache Kid slips away and changes into his alter ego of Aloysius Kare and convinces the railroad company to hire him.

On the job, Aloysius witnesses one of Rosby's coaches drive by and it's riders threatening the rail men. Realizing that the coach is not on it's usual run, Kare decides to follow after it to see where it's going. He attacks the coach and forces the riders to get off and is surprised to see that the coach is loaded with guns and that it was on its way to Red Rain's tribe. Kare then steals the coach and rides it into town where he goes to confront Rosby in his office. Inside the local saloon he overhears Rosby's plot to supply Red Rain with guns to stop the railroad from being built in the area as it would create competition for his lucrative coach business and that he had sabotaged the nearby rail bridge. Kare is caught spying and fights his way out of the saloon.

Changing back into the Apache Kid, Kare races to the train and manages to get everybody off before it rides over the sabotaged bridge and derails. Meanwhile, Red Rain and his people, believing that Rosby had betrayed them for failing to deliver the guns find that the coach of guns is still in Rosby's possession. Rosby tries to warn Red Rain not to attack, but a shot is fired setting off dynamite killing all the conspirators, saving Apache Kid the job of rounding them up.

Recurring Characters

• Apache Kid

• Nightwind

The Wild Beast

Red Hawkins and his Native American sidekick Tall Feather spot a wild white stallion and Tall Feather makes a bet with Red that he can capture the horse in a day. Red leaves to go to town and wait for Tall Feather to either succeed or fail. Tall Feather creates a trap to pen in the horse unaware that he is being watched by two outlaws who are planning to kill him when he captures the horse so they can sell it for a profit.

Tall Feather succeeds in trapping the horse in a pen and that is when the outlaws attack him. However the fast thinking Tall Feather mounts the horse and uses it to trample his attackers to death. In the aftermath, Tall Feather notices that the horse, a female, has to foals that it is caring for and decides to let her go so that it can raise it's children.

He returns to Red Hawkins who is paid his wager, but Tall Feather is happy that he made the right decision.

Recurring Characters

• Red Hawkins

• Tall Feather

• Lightning

• Cloud

Continuity Notes

• Although they are called Red Hawkins and Tall Feather here, these characters are clearly intended to have been Tex Morgan and his sidekick Lobo. The characters are drawn the same and their horses have the same name. The only differences are they call each other by different names and Tex Morgans shirt is red instead of yellow. There’s no explanation for the sudden name change. My guess was to make these characters sound less fucking boring then they really were (it failed).

The Comanches Strike!

Aloysius Kare spots a coach being attacked by what appear to be Comanche raiders and sends them fleeing. Kare finds it suspicious that the Comanches scalped the driver as Little Snake's band of Comanches are not known to scalp their victims. He questions the rides and nothing adds up since nothing was stolen. He then finds that one of the passengers is a little boy whose father Mr. Goodrich had died mysteriously and that he is the heir to his fathers ranch and that the boy was travelling out to meet his fathers former business partner, D.T. Goodrich. Aloysius agrees to ride the boy into town to make sure he makes it okay and get some help for the stranded coach passengers.

Meanwhile, the "Comanches" -- really outlaws hired by Goodrich -- have washed off their make-up and meet with their employer, who is furious that they failed in their mission as he needs to eliminate the boy in order to inherit his former partners property, whom Goodrich murdered when finding out that the property has a rich deposit of silver on it. Soon Kare and the boy arrive in town and Aloysius spots the outlaws coming out of Goodrich's office and recognizes them as the "Comanches" that he had fought off and becomes suspicious but decides to keep quiet and see how things play out. Meeting Goodrich, Kare learns about the boys inherited wealth and how the transfer papers are at his fathers ranch. Kare convinces Goodrich to allow him to accompany him to collect them. Along the way some of Goodrich's men try to ambush them to kill Kare, but the cowboy is a faster draw and guns them down.

Kare rides off and changes into the Apache Kid and enlists the aid of Little Snake and his Comanches telling them how the outlaws posed as his people. They then track down the ranch and attack. While the Comanches are busy fighting off his men, Goodrich attempts to escape by using a rope to climb down a precipice. Little Snake attempts to follow after him but Goodrich pulls a gun. Before Goodrich can shoot, Apache Kid throws his knife cutting Goodrich's rope and sending him falling to his death. In the aftermath, Aloysius Kare brings the boy to his new home.

Recurring Characters

• Apache Kid

• Nightwind